Reinventing English

Reinventing English was actually given to me a couple of years ago by a colleague. I remember devouring it. I wanted to bring the topics of place, identity, culture, and sexism into my classroom, and this book gave me creative ways to do that. While I never followed any of the suggested units, I did use strategies, such as Four Corners, as well as multi-genre writing assignments, the 2-voice poem, etc. As a beginning teacher at the time, I was bored of the traditional curriculum that wasn't really making my kids think, and this book helped push me to view the possibilities of an English classroom. However, like Amy, Gaughan's labeling of his students bothered me. Instead of taking the position of power in enabling his students to "see the light", I think it would have been interesting if he had also participated in and documented his own journey towards thinking critically about these topics. Nevertheless, I think the premise of the book is one that needs to be discussed by English teachers.

I think the Noddings quote he uses on page 8 proves true, "The traditional organization of schooling is intellectually and morally inadequate for contemporary society. We live in an age troubled by social problems that force us to reconsider what we do in schools." I wonder: why don't some teachers want to have these conversations in their classrooms? Is it too complicated or controversial? Do we assume students can't handle it? Have we lost our sense of agency? Is it just easier to read what is provided in the textbook and do what we've been doing for years? I don't know the answer, but I can remember when I first entered into these conversations with my students, I was worried about my views and opinions escaping me when I was supposed to be the "neutral" one. I was worried about being seen as a teacher with an agenda. However, the more I participated in these conversations with colleagues and in graduate classes, the more comfortable I felt in bringing these topics into the classroom. Through these discussions, I began to see more of my students engaged and challenged. I remember the satisfaction I felt when a student remarked, "This is making my head hurt!"

Yet, even now, I still worry that the resources and topics I choose for my class will lead my students toward a certain belief or opinion, but I think my goal is to get them to think about why they think the way they do and what influences their beliefs - not to think the way I do. I think maybe the important piece that is missing is providing multiple narratives with a variety of perspectives and teaching students how to think critically about ALL texts, representations, etc.